TheFool
by CocoaMoon
Summary: Eight years of a relationship was so much to lose. How their story began to entertwine. Slow updates. Also I can’t figure out formatting here to save my life, sorry!


So... this isn't going to be a oneshot... but I also have no idea when I will be updating it. I know very loosely where I want to go with it but I need to tidy up my thoughts on it more. This is my Apprentice OC Leora. She's the only thing I own! I dont even have my own The Arcana tarot deck yet T.T

Let me know what you think of it!

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Leora barely heard the words of adults behind her making decisions for her life. She stared blankly at the charred shambles that was her home. Stared blankly at the lives lost there.

"We'll take her," Leora heard a woman murmur behind her. Imploring, even. "We have one her age as well. Let us care for her."

And so, Leora went home with the Alnazars to their home in Vesuvia. The carriage ride wasn't long but time felt unnecessary now as it was. Just like she didn't know how much time she spent in the room she was given until she actually ventured out of its four walls. An undeterminable amount after that actually leaving the house.

She meandered through the marketplace, observing life happen around her when a voice called out to her.

"Beauty!" Leora turned to see a teen at a table with a beckoning grin shuffling cards. She lifted an eyebrow at being addressed. He huffed a laugh. "Yes, you! Come! Won't you see what the cards want to tell you?"

The boy had gleaming white hair unruly as cotton fluff and mischievous violet eyes. There was no questioning this was the Alnazar boy she had yet to meet, but did he really not know he was her housemate? Leora made her way to his table with what she was sure was a bland expression. She hadn't worked up any true emotion since her parents passed. But the boy— Asra was his name— wasn't put off at the indifferent approach.

"Have you gotten a reading before? Should I introduce you to tarot?" Asra asked as he continued to cut his deck this way and that.

Leora met his gaze lazily and saw his lips part into a small, wistful sigh. Interesting, she thought. "I know what your deck will tell me. It is what the cards always tell me."

"But you've never gotten a reading from me before," he smirked.

"I confer with my own deck daily."

His eyes widened at that. "Magic, are you?" He squinted as he leaned in. "Yes I can see it on you, in you."

"I've not used it in some... time," Leora admitted as she sat on the stool for customers. "Just my cards."

"Is there nothing I can divine for you, beauty? Perhaps a happiness spread or wealth or perhaps even your love life?" He enticed smoothly. I almost smiled. And because it was the closest I had felt to one in much too long, I obliged him.

"I'm going to get The Fool upright, Judgement reversed, and The Star reversed."

"Let's just see," Asra said as he focused his energies on his deck and let his magic guide him to make an accurate reading for his customer. He flipped the first card on top and blinked as he stared at the beautiful cliff he'd handpainted with the golden 0 at the bottom. "The Fool," he announced.

He gave one more shuffle and light tap as he slid the next card to the table. An elephant matriarch looked back at him boasting the XX at the top in its inverted state. "Judgement, reversed."

Asra slid one more card from the top to see a cat pouring from a pail, defying gravity as this card, too, was upside down. "The Stars... reversed."

Leora simply raised her eyebrows at him in an unspoken 'I told you so'.

"Thank you all the same, how much do I owe you?"

"No charge, since it was more to satisfy my own curiosity," Asra replied as he began to lazily begin shuffling again. His laidback demeanor changed as she rose from the plush cushion. "Um, wait!"

Leora paused as he slipped the cards in a pouch and maneuvered skillfully around the booth; dodging the lanterns hanging from it and the pots on the ground near it. Asra straightened up and dimpled at her innocently.

"I was closing up soon anyway, how's about I escort you home? It should be getting dark soon...ish."

Again, Leora almost smiled at the offer. The sun had barely started setting; the whole burnished globe was still a hand above the horizon. But this would make for a very funny situation and Leora actually was in the mood to be amused. So she allowed the lithe teen to walk alongside her where he tried to engage her in conversation the whole time— commenting on sights and villagers and have you tried their signature dish here and this area looks much better at night. Asra didn't appear to mind that he was the lion's share of the conversation. He just enjoyed when she did give her input and getting to look at her and walk beside her. He actually had been so focused on her that he hadn't realized he had been operating on muscle memory. The creamy brick of his own home was before them and he blinked in slight surprise.

"Forgive me, beauty. I had intended on escorting you to your home and accidentally I've led you to mine. But if you would like to come in Mom and Dad should have tea going," he offered, hoping she would consent to a touch more time with him. Leora finally released the small smile she had been feeling in the works all day.

"I really thought you had a better sense of awareness," she quipped, referring to something other than his directional failings. She pushed the door open and stepped in with him right behind her.

"Wonderful! You two have finally met! It's good to see you outside the house, young lady," Salim welcomed them from his spot next to the fireplace tending the flames to heat the cast iron teapot.

"Your son has certainly entertained me."

"Well tea should be done in just a moment, then dinner in few hours. Would you like to stay for a cup?"

"Thank you, but no. I believe I will join you all for dinner today, however," Leora said as she approached the stairs.

"Great! I'll come knocking when it's ready," Salim smiled warmly.

"Thank you," Leora said as she returned the smile. Then looking back at Asra, still gaping in the doorway, she gave a small huff of a laugh before ascending the stairs to the room she'd been given.

"In the fly catching business now, son?"

Asra snapped his mouth closed and his head towards his father. "Are you telling me that that siren has been living silently under the same roof as me for two weeks?!"

Salim snorted at his word choice. Of course his son had already been thinking romance with their new ward.

"So you've already decided you like her?"

Asra looked at him incredulously. "'Like her'? Don't be ridiculous," he grunted as he flopped down onto the sofa. "That's the woman I'm going to marry!"

Salim almost tripped on his way to the low tea table in front of his son to return his own incredulous look. He carefully poured the hot water into the pot and set it on a quilted coaster before responding.

"Asra, don't scare her off. She's been through a lot recently."

"I know that! But the cards don't lie, and especially not mine. And I know what they were telling me this morning when I pulled a daily spread for myself and how the magic in them practically sang when I saw her. That girl up there is my life partner and I could not be more delighted to see where life will take us. We have plenty of time," Asra smirked as he lounged.

Salim sat in a chair across from him with an eyebrow raised.

"So the cards told you that you were to meet your future wife today?"

"Well... no... but! I did interpret them as a lifelong bond will be forged today. And while that bond could be friendship or even a rivalry, I'm going to make sure that it's an epic romance with adventure and plenty of stories to tell our children."

Salim shook his head and then deadpanned, "What's her name?"

Asra froze.


End file.
